Lagos — Ahead of next year's World Athletics Championship, former African queen of the track, Mary Onyali-Omagbemi has warned that poor preparation might rear its ugly head again to deny the country chances of any meaningful impact.

The former athlete told brilafm.net yesterday that last minute approach has cost Nigeria major laurels and it is about time there is a change of operation.

Poor preparation has always been a problem for the nation. We need to prepare years ahead of major championships is always the right approach, but we are not doing so,' she lamented.

Similarly, as the 2008 season winds down, former Athletic Federation of Nigeria (AFN) president, Engineer Oluyomi Adeyemi-Wilson has re-echoed need for the sports authorities to embark on continuous catch them young programmes.

He said that there was a lot to be done in that regard, especially in the nationís secondary schools, where untapped talents abound.

There is a lot that can be done for athletics. I still believe in developmental programmes. We just need to go to the secondary schools. The basic idea is that we can catch them young and develop them he advised.